Talk:Ben Adaephon Delat
Current topic Doubts about QB timeline entries on Wiki - posted on Malazan Empire Forum by Puck The entries in question are: ::At one time, prior to his joining the Malazan Army, Quick Ben had been a High Priest of Rashan in Seven Cities. On the night the cult was annihilated at the Rashan Temple at Ehrlitan, he had watched Lostara Yil perform the Shadow dance, having arrived at the temple under a different name. Cotillion told Lostara years later that on that night, the attraction between her and Quick had been mutual as far as he knew. After the dance, during the night, the assassinations had begun, although Quick Ben had not been alone, there had been an assassin as well. Apart from Lostara, Quick Ben also let Bidithal go, an act which brought him the wrath of Shadowthrone.House of Chains, Chapter 8, UK MMPB p.388-394 ::Quick Ben had been a former prime contender for the Magi of Shadow position in the Deck of Dragons. needed ::After defecting from the cult of Rashan and burning the robes of his vestmentGardens of the Moon, Chapter 12, UK MMPB p.401, he became a mage primarily utilizing the Meanas warren. He then became one of twelve members of the Holy Falah'd's Mage cabal. ::According to the Korvalah demon Pearl, the name Ben Adaephon Delat was marked on the scrolls listing the Mages who fell to the Empire in Seven CitiesGardens of the Moon, Chapter 13, UK MMPB p.423. Puck wrote: Bolded the part that made me think. Now, I am not 100% sure on QB's timeline, but I've always had the impression that he could not have been a priest of Shadow exclusively before becoming a mage serving the Holy Falah'd. Is there a citation regarding that? For one, Whiskeyjack calls him the youngest of the mages in the employ of the Holy Falah'd. And also, the Cult of Rashan was destroyed after the Malazan Empire had conquered Seven Cities, at which point QB was still recognized as a High Priest. The destruction of the cult seems to have happened shortly after ST and Cotillion's ascension. Maybe it was all close in time, but still seems not like for QB to have been a priest, then to have become a mage in the employ of the Holy Falah'd, then to have openly returned to the cult just to destroy it, especially if he had been working with ST and Cotillion at the time of the cult's destruction. Also, this was likely closer to the time at which he'd be a likely candidate for the Magi of Shadow position. It's all jumbled and maybe it's been talked over on the wiki already. I just wanted to make sure. Will provide what quotes I can later when I'm home, if needed. All I can give right now is the following from HoC, emphasis added by me: ::Delat, who, it proved, was both a High Priest and a Bridgeburner, and whatever the Emperor's reason for annihilating the cult, his was the hand that delivered the death-blow. ..meaning that happened after his time as a mage for the Holy Falah'd. Also, I may be wrong on ST having had ascended already at that time, but anyway, my point is that the timeline on the Wiki seems the wrong way around. Can anyone shed light on this? Egwene of the Malazan Empire (talk) 18:12, January 8, 2016 (UTC) :I finally made it to House of Chains Chapter 8 in my reread today. It seems pretty clear that the Cult of Rashan episode happens after the forging of the Bridgeburners and before the ascension of Kellanved and Dancer while K is still Emperor. Some quotes from HC/8: :"Delat, who, it proved, was both a High Priest and a Bridgeburner, and whatever the Emperor's reason for annihilating the cult, his was the hand that delivered the death-blow." :"Shadowthrone—who was not Shadowthrone then, simply a particularly adept and ambitious practitioner of Rashan's sister warren, Meanas" :"Back then, I was Dancer" :"Did you know Delat—or, rather, the man I would eventually learn was Delat—would have taken you for his own? Not just the one night. You would have joined him as a Bridgeburner, and that would well have pleased him." :Revised Timeline :*QB is one of 13 mages in a cabal working for a Holy Falah'd :*Bridgeburners chase the mage cabal into Raraku. QB picks up the cabal's souls including Renisha, a Meanas mage, and Etra, a Rashan mage. This is probably why QB can be a high mage of Rashan later. I was going to say the same of Meanas, but in GM/12 he tells Shadowthrone he "did indeed rise far Meanas, Shadowthrone, in service to you" and bargains to remove the threat of the "reward" of the Rope for those leaving ST's service (see below). :*Whiskeyjack invites QB into the BBs, and QB convinces WJ not to let the Emperor know. :The wizard slowly nodded. 'Hence this fateful meeting. Sir, Kalam and I, we'll follow you, now. If you would have us.' :''Whiskeyjack grunted. 'The Emperor will take you from me.' '' : 'Only if you tell him, Commander.' MI/8 :*Whiskeyjack keeps QB's secret. According to the imperial demon, Pearl, QB's name is "marked on the scrolls of those High Mages who fell to the Empire in Seven Cities." :*QB as Bridgeburner and High Mage of Rashan is chosen to bring down the cult of Rashan. Dancer comes along without knowing who QB is. QB betrays Kellanved by allowing Bidithal to escape. :*Kellanved and Dancer ascend :*QB becomes an acolyte of Meanas serving Shadowthrone (a Meanas mage's soul likely comes in handy to quickly move up the ladder) :*QB leaves ST's service and burns his vestment. This gets revealed in GM when QB tricks ST into lifting the "reward" of the Rope. : "He realized who I was just as I left." Quick Ben's grin broadened. "You should have heard him scream." '' :'' "Well, are you surprised? How many High Priests burn the robes of their vestment?" '' :'' "Not enough, if you ask me. Without temples and priests the gods' bloody meddling couldn't touch the mortal realm. Now, that would be paradise, right, friend?" GM/12 :The fact that QB felt the need to make this bargain suggests he really was in service to ST after his ascension. --ArchieVist (talk) 17:55, April 6, 2018 (UTC) ::A lot of very plausible explanations, AV. Would you mind re-writing the article accordingly and add a section for the alternative, less likely scenario in the speculations section with links pointing from one to the other and vice versa? With an added link to this discussion, readers should then have enough info to be able to make up their own minds. Egwene of the Malazan Empire (talk) 08:25, April 7, 2018 (UTC) :I'll be working on this today.--ArchieVist (talk) 15:24, April 7, 2018 (UTC) Magi of Shadow I'm moving the below unreferenced text from the main page here for now. I'm not sure if it is true and I can't find a place to put it.--ArchieVist (talk) 15:24, April 7, 2018 (UTC) Quick Ben had been a former prime contender for the Magi of Shadow position in the Deck of Dragons. Old Topics Dust of Dreams - "Rannalled"? (Don't read this unless you've read up to the end of Dust of Dreams) In the battle with the Nah'ruk near the end of the book, after Quick Ben disappears in the lightning blast, Cuttle and Fiddler are in a fighting retreat toward the second line of defense. During this battle, after Cuttle makes sure Fiddler knows the retreat's been sounded, he says "Quick Ben's been Rannalled, Fid - that giant strike - ." Does anybody have a clue what that verb is supposed to mean? The only thing that comes to mind is Lieutenant Ranal (which would explain the oddly placed capitalization, but not the double n), who may have died in a similar conflagration back in Y'Ghatan (I forget....that was a lot of pages ago and Ranal was never more than a canned "annoying nobleman officer," unlike more memorable deaths like Whiskeyjack, Tattersail, etc.) :This discussion might be better taken to our partner website's forums at malazanemppire.com. --[[User:Jade Raven|'Jade Raven''']] (talk to me!) 21:16, March 9, 2014 (UTC) Copied from Category:Mystery Characters in Intro posted by Ruthanfidd666 My first and foremost question in creating this category is: who is Ben Adaephon Delat?? Quick Ben is one of my favorite characters, but his origins are still a mystery to me. Named by Fiddler's Deck of Dragons as Magus of High House Dark (in Dust of Dreams I believe) but not Tiste Andii; appearing on the Spar of Andii and wielding objects which are obviously powerful (and specific) to the Tiste Andii; just who is Quick Ben? I mention this in this thread, because one Adaephon is quoted in one of the novels: I cannot recall which, and do not have the novels available at this time, but I will (shortly) post the relevant information, and hopefully open up a discussion as to just who Quick Ben Adaephon Delat is. Notes and references Category:Talk pages